Manager Cancels Employee’s Month-Old Leave After Watching Viral FIFA World Cup Reel; Internet Says ‘That’s So Pathetic’

For football fans in India, following the 2026 FIFA World Cup meant sacrificing sleep for over a month. With the tournament being held across the United States, Mexico and Canada, most matches kicked off after midnight IST, leaving fans to juggle late-night games with their morning schedules.

While many somehow managed both, one employee’s attempt to catch the biggest game of them all, the final between Argentina and Spain, backfired after his manager stumbled upon a viral Instagram reel. The manager cancelled the employee’s month-long planned leave after realising he was taking it to watch the tournament’s final match.

In a post shared on Reddit, titled “My ex-colleague has been caught because of this reel,” a man recounted the incident. He shared that

his former colleague had taken more leave than usual over the past month and was warned by his manager.

After that, he began arriving late to work on multiple occasions. When questioned about his late arrivals, the employee blamed heavy traffic.

But things took a turn when a friend of the employee jokingly revealed that he might be up late at night to catch up on FIFA matches.

The man added, “The guy is a huge football fan, and most people in the team know about it, including the manager; they just didn’t realise until this so-called friend brought that up. The manager quickly checked the matches on the internet.”

“Manager confronted him about that, but he denied it, saying it was all because of traffic but then manager showed him all his past leaves and his late-coming messages, and most of them were coinciding with the matches of France, Portugal and Argentina. Yep, manager actually researched all about it,” he added.

“Manager gave him a last warning, but hey, there’s this final on Sunday Night the most important match, for once when he was telling me all this, I thought it was all gone, he won’t be able to watch it, but then he told me, he has covered himself a month back and taken a planned already mentioning he has a family function on Monday,” he said.

However, things did not go as planned because of one viral reel on Instagram. The manager came across a video shared by Thomas Public School in Kerala’s Muvattupuzha, announcing a holiday on Monday, July 20, so that students could watch the FIFA World Cup 2026 final between Spain and Argentina, which was scheduled for Sunday night (IST).

After seeing the reel, the manager messaged the employee to inform him that his Monday leave had been cancelled.

“When my colleague mentioned that he has a function at home, manager asked him for train tickets, function/invitation card (Yeah Average Lala Company Manager), and when he was not able to produce them, manager sent this reel link to my friend and said ‘Bewakoof kisi aur ko banana (Fool someone else) as if he’s so smart already,” he shared.

“For now, he has been strictly instructed to report on Monday sharp at 9 am, and he doesn’t know what to do. All Thankss to Thomas Public School and their legendary reel.”

Internet Reacts 

The post has garnered immense attention online, with many criticising workplace culture in Indian offices, while a section of people has said that the employee could have been truthful from the start about his leave and delays instead of repeatedly lying.

“This is why no one wants to work for Indian managers!” wrote a user.

Another said, “Average Indian manager on a power trip.”

“That’s so pathetic. If the work is getting affected because of his leave and late login, only then can the manager question,” an individual commented.

My ex colleague has been caught because of this reel
by
u/ElectronicStrategy43 in
IndianWorkplace

“I think the manager is pissed not because of football but because your colleague lied about why he was taking leave. Your colleague is a chronic liar and a manipulator,” a different person said.

“If you can’t tell lies properly, then be honest next time. Next time ask your friend to be truthful and say it on the face that he was watching football. The point here is that the manager guy is expecting the guy to be truthful. People in india believe that having fun is some kind of privilege. Life comes 1st; work should be low priority. Just because someone pays you a monthly salary for trading your time doesn’t mean that they own your life,” someone else mentioned.